


On the Other Side

by Geonn



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Episode Related, Episode: s04e04 Monsoon, F/F, Retelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-31
Updated: 2011-10-31
Packaged: 2017-10-25 02:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/270894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geonn/pseuds/Geonn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlotte's point of view.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> Almost all of the dialogue herein is taken directly from the episode.

Check the pulse. Check the skin color. Jaundiced? Pale? No. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and settled herself. It was the dormant strain of the virus. She had checked and double-checked before injecting herself. She wasn't stupid, lazy or sloppy. She was fine. But knowing what the virus could do to a person was playing tricks with her mind, making her paranoid. The rumble of hunger in her stomach, the motion sickness from trying to read on the plane, it all combined to make for a very, very long wait.

Finally she splashed her face with water from the sink and left the airport bathroom. Soon, this mess would all be over. Feliz would have his virus and she would be off this hellhole to... to... wherever. Stealing the virus didn't exactly leave her able to use her former employers as references. But she would deal with that when the time came.

When she returned to the terminal, she saw that another traveler had arrived. A gorgeous, leggy brunette in a beautiful gray dress. She had the kind of presence that, rather than making her look out of place, made everything else in the room look like it should be elsewhere. She had become the focal point of the room. And, naturally, the balance of attention had shifted. The tall, lanky man with the laptop was watching her more than his work, and the "charming" fellow in the bad suit was circling like a wolf preparing to pounce on his prey.

Charlotte picked up her things from where she had been sitting before. She tried to act casual as she moved to a spot where the newcomer was always in her line of sight. The woman glanced up, appraised her very quickly, and smiled hello. Charlotte returned the smile and opened her magazine. The airport was quiet, and the world outside the window was just lovely. She found herself staring at it more than her magazine.

Or she could have simply been using the view as an excuse to look toward the brunette. Who was she? Where was she going to, or coming from? No ring on her finger. She scolded herself. _Bad, very bad. What the hell are you thinking about? A one-night stand in the airport bathroom?_ This was followed by another, quieter voice from deeper in her subconscious: _Yes, please._

If that was all she could hope for, then she would take it. She tapped the back cover of her magazine and then said, "Um." The brunette looked toward her. "If you want something to read, I'm done with this." She held up the magazine like a shield.

"Oh. Thank you, very much."

Charlotte handed it over and crossed her arms on the table in front of her. Nice dress, nice shoes. Obviously from money. And that accent was British. Rather posh, it seemed. Maybe she was a princess of some kind, traveling incognito. Royalty liked to have a bit of fun on their vacations, right? A quick romp with a local who had no idea who they were sleeping with... it wasn't unheard of.

Charlotte closed her eyes and rubbed between her eyebrows. Maybe rampant delusions were a side effect of the dormant virus.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes." Charlotte smiled. "Just tired."

The possible princess smiled compassionately and looked back at her magazine. Charlotte looked at the woman's legs. Her shoes. Her...

Charlotte dug into her bag for something to occupy her thoughts. She found a newspaper with, blessedly, a blank crossword puzzle. And in English. She could complete one in French, but it was just slightly more difficult. She didn't want difficult; she wanted to turn her mind off and let it coast for a while.

The man in the suit made his move and Charlotte kicked herself for not taking a chance to start a conversation. She retreated into her shell (89 down, "Enter on the sly") while the man made his play, smiling when the British beauty rebuffed him at every turn. His approach was pathetic enough that she couldn't even pretend that her reaction meant she was playing on Charlotte's team. No woman, or at least no woman worth her time, would fall for lines like his.

And then the Russian swept in, occupying the room with his voice and his grand gestures. He presented them with tickets to a Death Cage Competition and invited them all to attend as his guests. The idea made her stomach churn. But there were possibilities. She had a ticket, the brunette bombshell had a ticket... maybe they could go together. Mock the proceedings. And then afterward, some dinner or wandering Atlantic City together, head down to the beach--

The brunette offered Charlotte her ticket. "Are you interested?"

 _In talking to you? Yes. Any excuse..._ Out loud, she said, "Actually, I was going to give you mine." _I hoped it would be our first date._ "The only men I know are the ones who buy tickets to Comic Con in San Diego a year in advance." _Great. Let her know you're a geek Give her another reason not to look twice at you._

"Much better breed."

 _Okay, she needs to stop making me love her._ She decided she couldn't go another minute without knowing this woman's name. If she was going to whisper it into her pillow when she got back to the hotel, she had to know who to invoke. She held out her hand. "Charlotte Benoit."

"Helen Magnus."

"What brings you here?"

"Oh, you know." She gestured toward the window. "The dependable weather. You?"

"Work." She decided to sprinkle a bit of truth into her lie. "I've been on Madagascar for the past three months studying lemur migration. Their population pattern, their diet changes..." The way Helen's eyes brightened gave Charlotte hope.

"Lemurs! Wonderful animals. Very versatile... um, scent glands in their paws, if I'm right."

Charlotte couldn't stop herself from smiling. This beauty, this witty and charming woman, didn't just like geeks. She _was_ a geek.

"Okay, I'm definitely getting a scientist vibe from you. Are you here on research, too?"

"I wish. No, I'm meeting someone."

 _Lucky them._ She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Well, that's very mysterious."

Helen matched her whisper. "Isn't it?" And then she chuckled, and it was so amazingly cute that Charlotte had to look back at her crossword puzzle and hope she wasn't blushing too fiercely. _If I didn't know better, I'd say she was flirting with me. And even if I do know better, it can never go anywhere. Nowhere._

A plane came in for a landing, and Helen quickly stood to watch it taxi through the window. Charlotte stood as well, pretending to look as well even though the man she was going to meet was still an hour away. She just wanted an excuse to look at Helen's ass, and it didn't disappoint. Then everything went to hell in a heartbeat.

#

She had finally stopped shaking, but Helen... oh, Helen could tell. Helen was astute. She asked Richard if they could postpone business until his plane arrived, and then she invited Charlotte to go on a walk with her. Clever girl. It was as if she could see the adrenaline coursing through Charlotte's body. Maybe she could. Maybe she was vibrating and just couldn't tell. Either way, a stroll around the tarmac with a beautiful woman sounded like the perfect end to a hellish day, so she jumped at the offer.

She waited until they were well away from the terminal before she spoke. "You sure know how to show a girl a good time."

Helen laughed. "I try."

"Thank you for..." She can't bring herself to say it, to acknowledge out loud how close she came to her own mortality. "You know."

"Don't mention it. You were very brave."

Coming from her, it didn't sound condescending. Feliz's plane flew overhead, drawing their attention. As it came in, Charlotte saw the countdown beginning. They would have to talk about business, and the virus in her bloodstream, and everything would be so hectic they might not have another moment alone like this in... in... well, who knew if they would ever have another private moment. Charlotte's chest felt full of air as she stepped in front of Helen.

"Are you sure you can't stay for a day or two? Relax, hang out..."

Helen looked tempted, but Charlotte could guess what her response would be.

"See, the thing about me is that I rarely just hang out--"

Charlotte kissed her. First on the corner of the mouth, a spot where she could pretend it was a chaste kiss gone awry, but then she couldn't help herself. She kissed Helen's mouth, no tongue, but definitely not something either of them would be able to pass off as accidental or friendly. There was romance in the kiss, a request for something extra. Helen leaned back and broke the kiss.

"Dear God."

She sounded surprised. Pleasantly so?

Charlotte braced herself for a rejection, for a polite let-down. Helen wouldn't do it any other way, but it would still be oh, so devastating. "Bad?"

"On the contrary, I just..." Charlotte threaded Helen's hair through her finger and thumb. God, it was as soft as it looked. She could have fantasies that centered entirely on this hair. "I haven't been kissed like that in a very long time."

She cupped the back of Charlotte's head, and Charlotte held her breath as Helen kissed her. Over the past few hours, she had run from people who fully intended to kill her. She'd been propelled fifteen feet by a massive explosion that had deafened her for a few terrifying minutes. She'd had a gun pressed against her chin, and she'd been facing a beating - or worse - at the hands of that awful blonde bitch. But somehow this kiss was making her heart beat a staccato rhythm faster than anything that came before. And, somehow, this kiss made all of that hell worthwhile.

All things considered, it wasn't a bad trip.


End file.
